


Just a Few Minutes

by lost_stickie_note



Category: NINE PERCENT (Band), 偶像练习生 | Idol Producer (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Happy Birthday Yanjun, M/M, More Fluff, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-23
Updated: 2018-08-23
Packaged: 2019-07-01 13:43:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,144
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15775275
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lost_stickie_note/pseuds/lost_stickie_note
Summary: Zhangjing reluctantly goes to an event for speed dating at his friend's urging.Each "date" lasts five minutes.Yanjun wins him over in three.





	Just a Few Minutes

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhhhh, HAPPY 23RD BIRTHDAY LIN YANJUN!!!!! I'M SORRY I'M LATE. I LOVE YOU SO MUCH THOUGH.
> 
> Anyway, here's some Zhangjun fluff for everyone. Sorry I didn't proofread this or hand it to my beta beforehand. Might make a few small edits if I notice anything later.
> 
> I apologize profusely for using Yanjun's actually awful pick-up line in this story.
> 
> And I just quickly re-read this, and it's kinda awful but I wanted to write fluff and had no time so it's rushed.
> 
> Follow me on Twitter: [@loststickienote](https://twitter.com/loststickienote) for updates, randomness, etc.
> 
> Comments, kudos, and feedback are always appreciated!

Zhangjing sighs when he looks down at his watch, the minutes seeming to be passing by faster than he intended. He is late, not able to find a spot to park his car near the café, instead having to drive two blocks over and pull into a parking lot. He had thrown money at the parking attendant, incredulous at the exorbitant price for two hours of parking time. Even worse, the man didn’t have change, so after ten minutes of arguing, Zhangjing finally gave up, seeing that the other man wasn’t going to budge.

 

So now he’s late, horrendously late.

 

But it doesn’t matter because his day sucks already, and he doesn’t want to be at the event anyway.

 

And it’s all Chaoze’s fault.

 

Upon learning that he had not been making even the slightest effort to throw himself into the dating pool to try and find his _one true soulmate_ as Chaoze had so melodramatically declared, the other boy had signed him up for this stupid speed dating event. _It’s fate_ the other boy had said when they found out his favorite café would be hosting it.

 

So now he is stuck going to this event that he doesn’t really care for, when he could be practicing for his upcoming acapella group concert. They had only just received the scores for this semester’s songs, and the whole group was busy re-arranging the pieces to suit them best.

 

_I could be doing something much more productive._

Instead, he is heading to this café, showing up a half hour late.

 

_Great._

 

When he walks in, he is surprised by the small number of people milling around. _I guess there weren’t that many people that signed up._ Just from scanning the crowd, he sees that there are only about twenty other participants, not including himself. Zhangjing breathes a sigh of relief. _Hopefully that means this will be quick and painless, and I can get out of here fast._ Even though he is late, it doesn’t appear as if the event has started yet, most people socializing with each other, making small talk by the sound of it. He makes his way towards the small tables, designed to fit max three people standing, and Zhangjing brightens when he sees the side table piled high with small deserts.

 

At least he would get food out of this event.

 

He grabs one of each, managing to fit four pastries on the plate, lamenting that the plates don’t come in bigger sizes and not wanting to take two plates for fear of looking like _that person_. Zhangjing turns when he hears the feedback from the microphone.

 

“Hi everyone! Thank you for attending our speed dating event today. We will be getting started in about ten minutes. The tables are lettered, and each person has an assigned number as well as an assigned starting table. Please come up and write your name and assigned number on a name tag. Then you can make your way to your assigned table. You will have five minutes with each person before we rotate. We have twenty-four participants in total, so we will have about two hours of rotation and then free mingling time afterwards.”

 

The host waves the stack of stick-on nametags in the air then begins calling out the list of participants along with their numbers. “…You Zhangjing, #9.”

 

Zhangjing walks up to where the host is and snags a nametag, writing his name and the #9 on the tag in big, bold letters.

 

_There, perfect._

Twenty minutes pass, and Zhangjing is already about to tear his hair out. He hasn’t liked a single person so far, and the future looks bleak. Zhangjing tries hard to listen to the guy talking in front of him, smiling absentmindedly, but none of the words are getting through to his head.

 

_Ding!_

“You can all rotate now.”

 

Zhangjing stares down at the table, drowning in self-pity. _Fuck Chaoze and his stupid ideas._ But when he glances up, he forgets how to breathe. The boy sitting in front of him is insanely attractive, mouth curved into a smile that is punctuated by dimples so cute he almost gasps. And the other boy has a piercing gaze, seemingly looking right through him, causing him to blink nervously and bite his lower lip. He notices the name tag across the other boy’s chest, a huge #5 written on it, but curiously enough, he had not written in a name. But before Zhangjing can open his mouth and ask, the other boy speaks.

 

“Why is my takeout order not here yet?”

 

Baffled, Zhangjing stares at the other boy. _Did he order take-out? Why would he do that at an event like this?_ He responds, extremely puzzled. “What order?”

 

“Our future.”

 

Silence.

 

“Wait…” Zhangjing is dumbfounded. “Is that supposed to be a pick-up line?”

 

The other boy’s face is now turning slightly pink, a bashful smile painting his face.

 

“Yeah. Was it really bad?”

 

Zhangjing giggles, his hand over his mouth, trying to hide his teeth as he laughs. “I mean, it wasn’t _good_. But I have to say, it’s the most interesting thing I’ve heard all day so far.”

 

The other boy lets out a sigh. “Sorry, my friend signed me up for this, and I didn’t find out until last night. I spent forever trying to come up with creative openers.” He gives Zhangjing a rueful smile. “I’ve never done the whole speed-dating thing, and it’s only five minutes, so I thought it best to be original at least.”

 

“And that was the best you could come up with?”

 

The other boy sputters. “Well, we already rotated a few times, and I used up all my good ones.”

 

Zhangjing counts carefully in his head. “So, that’s the sixth best one you could come up with?”

 

A face of frozen shock that suddenly splits into a wide grin of acknowledgment. “I like you.”

 

The simple statement makes him giddy with an unjustified amount of happiness. “Thanks, I like you too.”

 

A raised eyebrow and _omg a smirk._ “Do you mean that?”

 

“Yeah, I do.”

 

“Okay, quick, three things you love.”

 

“Singing, hotpot, movies.”

 

“Movies, reading, showering.”

 

They blurt out their answers at the same time, and immediately, Zhangjing begins to laugh. “Showering? Is that even a legitimate answer to that question?”

 

The other boy is grinning at him. “Why not? I do love to shower.”

 

_God save me._

Zhangjing can feel the blush heating his cheeks. _Now is so not the time to imagine him in the shower right now._ But he can’t stop himself once he starts, and Zhangjing desperately ducks his face down, hoping that the other boy can’t see the bright red he is turning.

 

“You’re turning as red as a strawberry.” The other boy notes, laughing lightly.

 

_No such luck._

_And fuck, his laugh is nice too._

“I like eating strawberries.”

 

And now, Zhangjing can feel his heartbeat attempting to escape his chest, pounding quicker than he thought possible. _Oh my god, I thought I was too young to get heart palpitations already._ The other boy is still smiling at him, a huge grin that is lopsided and adorable, his dimples deepening further. _Stop it, stop making me like you so much already. I don’t even know you._

“But about that, maybe we could go see a movie somet-“

 

_Ding!_

“You can all rotate now.”

 

Zhangjing hopes he isn’t imagining the disappointed look on the other boy’s face when he leaves the table.

 

_Wait, fuck._

_What’s his name?_

And Zhangjing spends the rest of the event not paying attention to the person in front of him, craning his neck to keep track of the other boy instead as they rotate. He can’t wait until the _goddamn rotations are done_ so that he can grab a hold of the other boy again and desperately ask him whether those last few moments were an invitation to go on a date.

 

Number Five.

 

That’s all he has to go on.

 

_If there’s a god, please don’t let him leave before I find out who he is._

“Okay, that’s the end of the rotation. Now we can move on to mingling, and I hope everyone is having a great time at our event today. We would like to just tha-“

 

Zhangjing is making his way across the room before the host even finishes speaking, thanking everyone involved with making the event happen. He has his eye on the other boy across the room, and as he nears, the other boy turns around so that he’s staring straight at Zhangjing, almost stopping him in his tracks.

 

“Hi.”

 

_Fuck, I’m breathless._

“Hi.”

 

He doesn’t quite know what to day next, and the words come out lamely. “So, well, I wanted to know your name. Because like, yours wasn’t written on your name-tag, just your number, so I don’t even know what to call you. And I was under the impression that we had a nice talk. At least, I think we did?”

 

_Shit, I’m babbling._

“And that last part, I was wondering whether you wanted to go on a date with me…?”

 

His voice trails off into a small nothingness by the end of the question, and Zhangjing is fully aware that he’s getting red now, feeling the tips of his ears heating up too.

 

_As red as a strawberry._

_Just like the ones he likes to eat._

_Fuck._

The other boy looks at him sheepishly. “Oh yeah, I forgot that I never wrote my name down. It’s Lin Yanjun.”

 

“Lin Yanjun?”

 

The name sounds familiar, but Zhangjing can’t remember where he’s seen it. Or heard it. Or…his eyes open wide with shock, and for a moment, his mouth is open without any words coming out either. “Lin Yanjun?” His voice comes out in a screech. “Like, the Lin Yanjun that’s written on the top of my acapella group music?”

 

Zhangjing feels like he might start hyperventilating. They had only just received their new music, and one of the new pieces had a lyricist Lin Yanjun, a name that he didn’t recognize. Odd really, since the acapella circle was quite close-knit, and everyone knew everyone. It was rare for him to see a name that he didn’t know.

 

When he had asked around, he was told that the boy was a new person on the scene, just beginning to carve out a niche, helping with composing and writing music. Their music department had declared that the theme for the year would be “looking forward to the future,” and as a result, their faculty advisor decided that a piece by a fresh face would be the perfect addition to their repertoire.

 

The other boy nods at him, clearly embarrassed. “Yeah, that’s me.”

 

And Zhangjing has so many questions that he wants to ask, the words threatening to spill out in a torrent. But before he can say another word, Yanjun stops him.

 

“Actually, I kind of lied to you before.”

 

Suddenly, he doesn’t feel so good anymore, his stomach starting to knot uncomfortably.

 

“Well, I lied, but I didn’t know how to say all of this without being creepy, and…” Yanjun takes a deep breath. “Okay, let me start at the beginning.”

 

“I’ve seen you before.” Yanjun grimaces. “Okay, that sounded creepy as fuck.”

 

He starts again as Zhangjing waits nervously.

 

“What I meant,” A pause. “Is that I’ve seen you before at acapella competitions. I used to go to them because a friend pulled me along. And so I’ve seen you sing. Which is why I started writing songs actually.”

 

Yanjun runs his hand through his hair and laughs awkwardly. “So yeah, I didn’t really want to open with that because it would be weird.”

 

Another laugh.

 

“I mean, wouldn’t you be weirded out if some guy you’ve never met came up and said to you ‘Oh yeah, I’ve watched all your acapella competition performances, and you inspired me to start writing music.’”

 

“Oh, and that friend I mentioned? It’s Chaoze. And he never signed me up for this event, but he told me you were going to be here the other day in passing.”

 

“And I just had to meet you.”

 

_Oh._

_Oh._

_Oh._

His voice comes out in a squeak. “Uhhh, that’s a lot to take in right now, and my stomach isn’t feeling so good because I thought you were about to say you didn’t really want to go on a date and you weren’t interested in me at all. And I think I may have eaten too many of those sickeningly sweet pastries.”

 

Yanjun smiles really widely at him. “No, I definitely do want to go on that date with you.” And Zhangjing almost swoons at the concerned look on the other boy’s face. “We should get you some water.”

 

Maybe today wasn’t so bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> ;) The answer is yes. Yes, Chaoze sort of casually set them up.
> 
> Comments, kudos, and feedback are always appreciated!
> 
> Twitter: [@loststickienote](https://twitter.com/loststickienote)  
> Caard: [loststickienote](https://loststickienote.carrd.co/)


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